


Caddy and the Real Girl

by starfleetinginterest



Category: Asagao Academy: Normal Boots Club
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-04
Updated: 2016-07-04
Packaged: 2018-07-20 01:09:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7384990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starfleetinginterest/pseuds/starfleetinginterest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Yeah, well, your girlfriend isn’t even <i>real</i>.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Caddy and the Real Girl

The argument between Caddy and one of his classmates, though its origin forgotten, had dissolved into immature name-calling, as was common with teenage boys. Kakusu, who had learned that Caddy preferred to handle conflicts by himself, was innocently observing the exchange until the classmate pointed to her and sneered.

“Yeah, well, your girlfriend isn’t even _real_.”

What happened next was strange. Distantly, she knew Caddy was tearing into the other boy, probably threatening him with violence, but all Kakusu could see or hear was the word _**REAL**_. She was certain she hadn’t shut down, nor was she in sleep mode… this was something else. A host of new feelings flooded her system: inferiority, unworthiness, hurt, _doubt_.

She was an artificial being – of course she knew that – but the boy’s statement cast a new light on that fact. It cut through to her wires, forcing her to reflect. She did not sleep, nor did she require food or oxygen to live. There was so much she still did not know about how humans interacted. Her body was made of alloys and silicone instead of bones and skin. She was not real. She could not deny this.

She thought of Caddy. His chest rose and fell with each life-sustaining breath. He laughed and loved readily and held grudges. His collagen-based skeleton could crack and snap and his touch was warm with the hot blood that pumped underneath his skin. Caddy was real. She could not deny this, either.

They were different – perhaps _too_ different for their relationship to ever truly work.

Kakusu returned to reality at the sound of Caddy’s voice calling her name. He was resting a hand on her back, and a flush of anger still lingered on his concerned face. The classmate was gone.

“Don’t listen to him, the dickhead,” Caddy spat at the direction the other boy left in. “He’s –”

“He is correct,” Kakusu interrupted, her voice small. “I am not real.” 

Caddy’s eyes widened and he gaped at her for a couple moments, completely struck. However, he soon found his voice again: “How can you _say_ that?”

“I am not human, Caddy.”

“I know that!” It may have taken him a while to figure it out, but he knew.

“I am artificial; thus, I am not real.” _And I may not be worthy of your affection because of this._

“You… You don’t need to be human to be real, Kakusu.” She slowly turned to face him, and the look of pained puzzlement on her face made his heart sink. “I mean, you’re not imaginary – you exist, here, in the world, so that makes you real.”

Kakusu frowned, unconvinced. Looking into her peculiar red eyes, Caddy realized he _needed_ her to understand, _needed_ her to see what he saw. He let his heart take over and began to ramble, desperate to see her smile again. “Your hair is real, and it’s soft, and I know that because I’ve touched it so many times. You want to understand how things work – more than anybody I’ve ever seen – and that’s a human thing, a real thing. When you tell me you don’t like to see friends fight, even though Moosey is _not_ my friend, that’s real, because if you weren’t real you wouldn’t care. And you care so much, about so many things!”

Kakusu felt an urge to stop him, as she was growing concerned that he was on the verge of hyperventilation, but for reasons she did not yet understand, she allowed him to continue. “How our fingers interlock is real, and so is when we kiss. The way I…” A flush had returned to his face, but she quickly recognized that it was caused by a different emotion. “Feel about you. That’s **_real_**.”

The only sound after that was Caddy’s heavy breathing. Kakusu took in each word and processed them, splicing, reshaping, discovering. She was a machine, but that was not all she was. She was everything that Caddy pointed out to her and more. Her existence was filled with choices, each one hers to make. She decided how to wear her hair. She decided what to learn. She decided who to form attachments with. She decided to care. 

And today, she decided that if she were not real, she would not get to decide.

Kakusu’s eyes flashed happily, and she smiled. “I feel the same way about you, Caddy,” she said, to his joy and immense relief. She closed the gap between them and pulled Caddy into a hug. He reciprocated immediately, holding her close, and Kakusu appreciated his body heat, his scent, the way his beard felt against her synthetic (but still real, mind) skin, and the beat of his heart, which had become slightly more rapid since they made contact.

“I feel real.”


End file.
